Petraeus Raised Terror Link

Former CIA Chief, in Private Testimony, Prompts New Questions About Handling of Benghazi Attack

By

Siobhan Gorman And

Devlin Barrett

Updated Nov. 16, 2012 8:27 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus said Friday that he told Congress from the earliest days that there was "significant terrorist involvement" in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya—adding to the controversy over the administration's handling of the attack.

Mr. Petraeus, who resigned last week after acknowledging an extramarital affair, went to Congress on Friday to defend his old agency's role in the response to the Benghazi, Libya, attack. In his closed-door testimony, he said that, in secret briefings with lawmakers soon after the attack, he had apprised them of the likely involvement of a local militant group, Ansar al-Sharia, said Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), describing his comments.

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Those comments rekindled debate about the intelligence community's initial assessments that the attack was a terrorist strike, and whether the Obama administration resisted calling it a terrorist act for political reasons.

The controversy also was extended when some lawmakers said they had a different recollection of Mr. Petraeus's earlier comments. Rep. King, who described Mr. Petraeus's Friday testimony, said his recollection of his earlier conversations was different.

"He said today that, at the time, he was emphasizing the role of Ansar al-Sharia. But at the time, my recollection is that he was minimizing the role of Ansar al-Sharia,'' Mr. King told reporters, referring to a local militant group sympathetic to al Qaeda.

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Mr. Petraeus spoke behind closed doors Friday in long-awaited meetings with House and Senate intelligence committee members. The Libya attack claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Mr. Petraeus's Friday testimony, as outlined by lawmakers who were present, was generally consistent with how U.S. officials have described the shifting intelligence assessments of the consulate assault in interviews dating back to the days after it occurred. Still, his appearance and testimony this week by top U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement officials haven't blunted questions about the use of intelligence or about the administration's explanations.

ENLARGE

Former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus, shown in 2011 at a retirement tribute, met with lawmakers Friday to offer his assessment of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

For instance, Mr. King and House Democrats clashed over whether Mr. Petraeus said Friday that there had been changes in CIA "talking points" designed to play down the role of terrorists.

Republicans charge the Obama administration resisted conclusions that the assault was the product of a terrorist attack for more than a week so it could avoid explaining, during a heated presidential campaign, how militants with ties to al Qaeda struck a U.S. facility on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. CIA talking points used by the White House said the attack grew out of a protest against an anti-Islamic video.

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A CIA analysis prepared the morning after the attack said that the attack appeared intentional and didn't appear to stem from a peaceful protest, according to a senior U.S. official. Analysis that day also mentioned the possibility of connections to an al Qaeda affiliate.

However, that information about specific groups involved came from classified sources the subject of debate among intelligence officials, so it was left out of unclassified talking points.

The CIA began receiving new information Sept. 15 that cast doubt about the protest, but the assessment wasn't immediately changed. On Sept. 16, United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice in a series of television interviews cited the official assessment as outlined in talking points. The CIA maintained its assessment until Sept. 20, when intelligence officials told counterparts at the White House that it had changed, according to senior U.S. officials

The talking points used by Ms. Rice were developed by the CIA from the classified reports, in response to a request from Congress, U.S. officials have said.

While the early classified reports mentioned the possible involvement of Ansar al-Sharia, the talking points developed for public use didn't.

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Mr. King said Congress needed to do more probing to try to determine who specifically decided to alter the references to terrorists in the earlier draft.

However, a senior U.S. official familiar with the drafting of the talking points said the name of specific groups and their ties with al Qaeda were omitted in part because that information came from classified sources that needed to be protected.

The intelligence linking the militant groups also were "tenuous," the official said.

"The points were reviewed by CIA leadership and coordinated in the interagency at a senior level," the official said, referring to the process by which the government's various intelligence agencies coordinate their findings. "The points were not, as has been insinuated by some, edited to minimize the role of extremists, diminish terrorist affiliations or play down that this was an attack."

The official said the talking points contained the word "extremists," which was intended to convey the presence of militants or possible terrorists, and Ms. Rice used the term extremists in television appearances. Republicans have criticized the administration's refusal to refer to the specific involvement of terrorists, rather than extremists.

"The controversy this word choice caused came as a surprise," the official said.

Mr. Petraeus's appearance Friday took on its own cloak-and-dagger feel, as the former CIA director navigated his way to the hearings through underground tunnels to avoid being mobbed by reporters. He hasn't made a public appearance since resigning after acknowledging an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

Democrats said the discussions with Mr. Petraeus made clear there had been no political interference with intelligence reports or talking points.

"He thoroughly debunked the idea that there was some White House tinting or shading to this," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), a member of the House intelligence panel.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said questions remained to be answered about the talking points used by Ms. Rice. He said he realized the Sept. 11 assault was an act of terrorism from the start.

"There was no question in the mind of anybody that this was an act of terrorism from the get-go," Sen. Chambliss said.

Many lawmakers praised Mr. Petraeus, a retired Army general who resigned in the wake of a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe that uncovered his extramarital affair. Lawmakers said Mr. Petraeus told them the probe hadn't influenced his statements or the inquiry into the consulate attack.

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